Top SEC football storylines: Is the SEC more than Alabama & LSU?

Shae Peppler covers the top storylines heading into the 2012 SEC Football season. Here is a brief synopsis of the video report.

LSU
The LSU Tigers are without CB Tyrann Mathieu. The star cornerback was dismissed from the program for a violation of team and school policy.

Texas A&M and Missouri
The Texas A&M Aggies and Missouri Tigers join the SEC this season.

Three new coaches in the SEC
Kevin Sumlin begins his first season coaching the Texas A&M Aggies. Hugh Freeze leads Mississippi and John L. Smith takes the reins at Arkansas.

More than LSU and Alabama
Matt Hayes of the Sporting News shares his thoughts on how the SEC is more than just Alabama and LSU. Hayes believes South Carolina could win the SEC. Arkansas has enough to win the SEC. Perhaps even Georgia could contend for the SEC title.

Key Players for SEC 2012
Hayes starts with Alabama running back Eddie Lacy. Hayes said Lacy is a combination of Glen Coffee, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. “I am expecting him to have a huge season,” Hayes said.

LSU’s Zach Mettenberger will be a key player in the SEC, Hayes said. If Mettenberger is able to pass then it will bring an extra dimension to LSU’s already potent running attack.

South Carolina’s offensive and defensive lines are strong, Hayes said. This could make Marcus Lattimore a very big player this season, if the running back recovers from injury.

What do you think? Is the SEC as deep as some analysts believe? Can Georgia and South Carolina compete against the powers of the SEC West? Do you think Arkansas can compete against Alabama and LSU without Bobby Petrino coaching the team?

10 Comments

Typical Bammer nonsense. If we weren’t so young & inexperienced, we would kick your redneck asses in November like we did in the Shula & Dubose years. You guys are a bunch of rednecks. Excuse me while I go shit under my tree and roll it in honor of Toomers

So you disagree with the question that other teams in the SEC are competitive enough to win the SEC and beyond?

Bammer nonsense? What does Matt Hayes from The Sporting News have to do with that?

I haven’t been coming to Capstone Report for too long, but I’ve seen patterns of seemingly more Auburn fans than Alabama fans reading and commenting on the site. Only this time he’s asking what you think specifically about what someone else said, and all you can say is it’s just more “bammer nonsense?”

I don’t get it.

Back ON topic (sorry about that), I think the SEC has been very competitive already and South Carolina will probably be the best team they’ve ever had. If LSU and Alabama weren’t so strong recently I think Georgia and USC could battle for the title and beyond against Arkansas.

I think the bottom line is the reason Alabama and LSU are at the top is because of the strength of the rest of the SEC, and all it takes is a win against them to catapult another team into title contention. But if Alabama and LSU were playing against a conference full of weak opponents, for one thing they wouldn’t be ranked so high even in pre-season scoring. Florida might not win the SEC this year, but they sure as hell aren’t Bowling Green State University or Rutgers.

If South Carolina beats Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, LSU, and Arkansas, they’d be ranked #1. And I think they could do it, with guys like Clowney and Lattimore, and particularly I think Connor Shaw is under-rated and under-exposed. If they win those big earlier games, people will start to notice. And of course Georgia has the schedule and enough talent to know it’s possible. I don’t think it’s an accident they’re both in the top ten in the preseason polls.